Susan Granger’s review of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” (Lyric Theater)
Enchantment reigns supreme at the refurbished Lyric Theater, where the now-grown Boy Who Lived is head of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic and a father with children of his own.
It begins at London’s King’s Cross Station, where anxious Harry Potter (Jamie Parker) and his wife Ginny Weasley-Potter (Poppy Miller) instruct their younger son Albus (Sam Clemmett) as he embarks on his first year at Hogwarts: “Run into that brick wall. Don’t stop and don’t be scared you’ll crash into it.”
Other parents include always resourceful Hermione Granger-Weasley (Noma Dumezweni) and her hapless, prankster husband Ron Weasley (Paul Thornley) with their daughter Rose (Susan Heyward).
Once aboard the Hogwarts Express, Albus meekly settles into a compartment with nerdy Scorpius Malfoy (Anthony Boyle), whose father Draco Malfoy (Alex Price) has always been his father Harry’s nemesis. Much to their parents’ chagrin, the two often-bullied boys become close friends, joined by rebellious, silver-haired Delphi Diggory (Jessie Fisher).
Their Hogwarts adventures include encounters with Professors Dumbledore (Edward James Hyland), Snape (Byron Jennings) and McGonagall (Geraldine Hughes), plus Moaning Myrtle (Lauren Nicole Cipoletti), Bane the Centaur (David St. Louis) and floating, wraithlike Dementors, along with grieving Amos Diggory (also Hyland), whose only son Cedric was killed during a TriWizard Tournament.
Shape-shifting set designer Christine Jones and lighting designer Neil Austin create the evocative Gothic ambiance of the magical School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with its ever-moving staircases, navigable only with a Marauder’s Map. They’re aided immeasurably by Steven Hoggett’s seamless choreography, Finn Ross’ projections, Jamie Harrison’s illusions, and Katrina Lindsay’s costumes.
For Muggles who have never read J.K. Rowling’s seven novels, synopses are provided in the Showbill, identifying the various characters, along with dastardly, villainous Lord Voldemort.
Based on an original story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany, it’s an enthralling, fantastical, five-hour-plus journey – a spellbinding theatrical experience.
What next? A casting agent’s dream would be a movie version – with Daniel Radcliffe being old enough to play Harry Potter again.